The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital Targets

The Brutal Art ofRIPPING, POKING,AND PRESSINGVITAL TARGETSi

ContentsIntroduction • 11Your Arsenal • 32Head • 133Arms and Shoulders • 1594Torso • 1875Groin • 2176Legs • 2377Feet • 263A Concluding Comment • 273v

Introduction“. . . in every fight there is always the possibility thatwhen one hand goes out it will come back red.”Interviewer to Woody Allen: “Do you think sex is dirty?”Allen: “If it’s done right, yes.”My personal path of martial arts study has evolved from using mostlypower techniques (what I call my locomotive style) to one in which Inow emphasize quick techniques delivered to the eyes, throat, ears,groin, nerve points, and other acutely vulnerable targets. This has ledpeople not involved in the martial arts to ask me, “Isn’t that dirty fighting?”To my amazement I’ve even been asked this by other martial artists.Now, I can understand it coming from a white-haired, canasta-playingsenior citizen. But a martial artist? My answer to both groups is to paraphrasecomedian Woody Allen: “If it’s done right, yes, it is dirty fighting.”But then, all fighting is dirty. Ram your fist into someone’s nose andhis facial features momentarily distort as snot, saliva, and blood flies.He staggers back, trips, and falls with a sickening thump as his headmeets the sidewalk. That’s dirty. So is a powerful kick to the thigh thatbuckles the leg and sends the receiver down a flight of stairs, and so isan armbar that damages the tendons and ligaments around an elbow.A hard blow to the abdomen can make a guy upchuck his chili dog,and a hard slap to the face can disrupt his vision and send him stumblingover the furniture and into the fireplace.I think the question of dirty fighting reveals much about the personasking. My guess is that he has had little to no experience fightingfor real. If the questioner is a martial artist, no doubt he is a point fightingcompetitor for whom attacking these vital targets is considered afoul. Or, he practices a style where the students and the teacher areonly fooling themselves into thinking that their “clean” techniques aregoing to help them in the ugliness that is a street fight.1

2 The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital TargetsAs a military policeman in Saigon, Vietnam, and as a retired 25-year veteran of the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau, I learned firsthandthat there is nothing pretty or clean about brawling. It hurts, it’sfrightening, it’s brutal, and it’s ugly. Every fight has the potential forserious injury, even death. A shove or a trip can mean a nasty fallwhere a limb gets twisted and breaks, a skull hits something hard andcracks, or a torso lands on something sharp and gets punctured. In mynearly three decades working law enforcement, I saw many seeminglyno-big-deal fights end tragically and I saw incredibly violent fights endwith no one getting seriously hurt.There is no way to know the outcome when two or more peopleenter battle. But in every fight there is always the possibility that whenone hand goes out it will come back red.For that reason you must bring to the fight every tool at your disposaland remove from your mind any thought that this technique orthat one is dirty fighting. It’s all about using the right tool at the rightmoment to finish the job.The techniques in this book range from annoying to devastatinglydestructive. Annoying techniques are used to distract an attacker andget him to shift in a certain direction so that you can execute othermoves. Devastating techniques are used when there are no otheroptions but to apply intense pain and potential injury.I began studying the martial arts in 1965 and, ever since that firstday, I have stolen techniques. If one works for the situation I’m in, Iuse it, and I couldn’t care less if it came from China, Korea, Japan, orKansas. Such is the case with this book. The techniques within this texthave been lifted from a host of fighting styles over the years. Others,through trial and error, I made up, though I’m sure they exist in somefighting system somewhere.My primary criteria for techniques included in this book are:• They must be simple.• They must hurt.• They must be executable within just a few inches of space.• They must give direction to the attacker.• They must have psychological and physical shock value.It’s my hope that you find these techniques as useful as I have. Anddon’t fret over dirty and clean. Just do what you’ve got to do to survive.

1Your Arsenal“. . . when we’re talking about defending ourselves,we ought to be in the right mind-set and use the right words.”Many martial artists talk about their “fighter’s toolbox,” meaningtheir techniques, concepts, and principles. Frankly, I think this term isgetting a little worn. When I hear the word toolbox I think of theplumber and the mechanic and that red, metal box they carry with allthe unfolding drawers. But when I think of the warrior arts, I don’tthink of screwdrivers and wrenches. I think of an arsenal, a cache ofweapons used to inflict leverage, pain, injury, and even death.I know it’s just semantics and I know I’m probably getting a littlecantankerous, but I think that when talking about defending ourselves,we ought to be in the right mind-set and use the right words. I don’twant to use a wrench out of my shiny red toolbox to tighten the lugnuts on my attacker’s car. I want to choose the right weapons from myarsenal to crush his nuts, period. See the difference? I just think thingsought to be straightforward in the fighting arts.The following pages show some of the weapons you will use in thisbook . . .3

4 The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital TargetsPINCHINGFingersFigure 1 Figure 2Figure 3• Crab bite: Trap a tender piece of your attacker’s skin between thefingernails of your thumb and index finger, or thumb and middlefinger, and then dig in. (Fig. 1)• Thumb and index finger: Trap a tender piece of your attacker’sskin between the pad of your thumb and the middle section ofyour index finger, and squeeze. (Fig. 2)

Your Arsenal 5KneesFigure 4• Four-fingers-to-palm: Trap a large section of your attacker’s tenderskin or a tender muscle, and squeeze. You can press with the padsof your four fingers or use the nails to slice into the skin. (Fig. 3)• Use your knee to press skin or muscles into a hard surface, usuallythe floor. (Fig. 4)5

6 The Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking, and Pressing Vital TargetsHeel of FootFigure 5• Use your heel to pinch skin or muscle into a hard surface, usually thefloor. (Fig. 5)TWISTINGFingersFigure 6• Use the same grips as in “crab bite,” “thumb and index finger,” and“four-fingers-to-palm” to grab a section of skin, tendons, and muscles.Forcefully twist the flesh clockwise or counterclockwise. (Fig. 6)

Your Arsenal 7RIPPINGMantis FingerFigure 7 Figure 8• Point your index finger, bend it inward slightly, and stiffen it ashard as you can. (Fig. 7)• Press your thumb against the middle section of your index finger as youpress your index finger back against it. This makes a powerful hookingweapon. (Fig. 8)Four-Fingers HookFigure 9 Figure 10• Method 1: Form your hand into a hook with your four fingers bent andpressed together. Hold your bent thumb against your hand. (Fig. 9)• Method 2: Form your hand into a hook with your four fingers bentslightly more than in Method 1. Push the pad of your thumb againstthe middle of your index finger and resist the push with your littlefinger. This stiffens all four fingers into a virtual hook. (Fig. 10)